Going potty at night

a_m_brown

How do you handle when your non potty trained LO wakes up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or insists on going several times before bed? Our daughter is not yet potty trained, but has recently started insisting on going multiple times after getting her diaper/PJs on. She goes before bath, so I know she doesn't have to go that bad and it's likely just a way of stalling. We don't know what to do because we obviously don't want to discourage her from telling us she has to go, but it's getting ridiculous and we are now spending 20+ minutes of her sitting on the toilet (sometimes going, sometimes not). Any advice? This potty training stuff is just about the most annoying thing I've ever had to do!

TiffanyBerry

We had a little potty in the bedroom since she was... 18mo or so?  Long before she was potty trained.  I would let her go, each and every time.  But the light stayed off and we stayed in the bedroom.  And she could sit there for five minutes, but I wouldn't play with her (or have conversations with her).  She still goes many times before going to sleep, but she actually usually *does* pee three times in the hour between going into bed and falling asleep.

LC122

I would limit your attempts to five minutes, not 20. After 5 minutes, say "Good Practice. We'll try again in the morning."

I also try to head off stall tactics with a bedtime checklist style. "Pajamas on, teeth brushed, cup of water at bedside, try to potty, Chapstick, books picked out." If you take the time to offer things like potty, water, etc. up front, you spend less time negotiating or wondering if it is legitimate or a stall tactic. You probably already know what those are for your kid; they may vary.

a_m_brown

The last couple nights I've asked her if she needed to go potty after bath (but before diaper/PJs). Last night she said she did and went a ton, but tonight she said she didn't need to. I told her that once her diaper/PJs were on, there were no more trips to the potty. She asked once but I reminded her that she just went and she should go in her diaper or wait until morning and she didn't fight it. She woke up dry this morning and went right away...hooray! We'll see how tonight goes, but hopefully this will work. Sort of bizarre that she's holding her bladder at night before during the day, but we'll get there eventually  Thanks for your replies!